Overview
The museum is housed in the Ferreyra Palace, a Beaux-Arts mansion designed by French architect Ernest Sanson and built between 1912 and 1916 for Dr. Martí­n Ferreyra, a prominent local physician and surgeon, as well the owner of limestone quarries and the then-biggest lime factory in Argentina (located at Malagueño, 15 miles to the west of Córdoba). Ferreyra chose the spot as a result of the development of the adjacent Sarmiento Park, a 17 hectare (43 acre) space created along what was then Córdoba's eastern edge (New Córdoba) and inaugurated in 1911. Subsequent generations added to the palace's interiors, notably the Imperial Bedroom ( Dormitorio Imperio), so named because the furniture was copied by famed cabinetmaker Krieger of Paris, from those used by Napoleon Bonaparte. The mansion was expropriated by the Córdoba Governor José Manuel de la Sota in 2005, by which the Ferreya family was reportedly compensated with a fraction of the landmark's market value and subsequently entered litigation. The controversial refurbishment resulted in the loss of much of the rear half of the mansion and of many of its interior details. The Ferreyras made a photographic resource available to demonstrate how the "Casa Grande" (as the family used to refer to the palace) was before the remodel practically destroyed the regal suites and salons; the website is the only publicly-available such source. Following a complicated refurbishment process, the "Ferreyra Palace Fine Arts Museum" opened its doors on October 17, 2007; political considerations led to the institution's redesignation that December as the Evita Fine Arts Museum, in homage to the influential former Argentine First Lady, Evita Perón. The museum maintains 12 exhibit halls, a sculpture garden, library, and an auditorium for 120. Its collection of over 500 works includes those by Emilio Caraffa, Juan Carlos Castagnino, Gustave Courbet, Fernando Fader, Francisco Goya, Emilio Pettoruti, Pablo Picasso, Joaquí­n Sorolla, Lino Enea Spilimbergo and Ricardo Supisiche, among others. The museum hosts ongoing temporary exhibits, as well.